37 Chapter 36

"Kupal! (Goblin!)" One of the orcs shouted as they kept shooting at Zuyuan's group. Pulling out his sword that strapped on his waist, Huhe began to deflect the arrowheads with the blade of his sword as he dashed forward. 

Following Huge's lead, Lyk started to pull out his sword as well while Zuyuan flicked his wrist and Estgard appeared on his hand. Glancing at XB11, Zuyuan muttered, "Do it." 

Nodding at Zuyuan's words, XB11 flew towards the orcs as it raised its gun and pointed the gun's barrel. Shooting down its enemies without mercy, the booming sounds of gunshots rang in the air as more than five orcs whittled down I believe seconds. 

Immediately realizing the danger of the weird shamanic magic the other party possessed, one of the orcs quickly raised his voice to chant a magic spell loudly while raising his hand to the sky. Soon, a wall of stone had emerged from the ground and shields the orcs from the barrage of bullets. 

"A holder…" shortly, Huhe frowned as he used the distraction caused by XB11 to close the distance. Thinking of a quick solution in his mind, he raised his sword and gripped the handle with both hands, taking a stance to stab. Trying to assault the orc on the side unexpectedly.

Unfortunately, the orc noticed and raised his longbow in front of him to block the incoming stab. But in the middle of the attack, the sword stopped midair as Huhe accelerated his movement to close in and rotate the sword position into a slash to the waist. 

The abrupt change of posture had taken the orc unguarded as the slash connected with his flesh. Screaming in pain, the orc movements jerked in halt for a second. But that second proved to be fatal as Huhe didn't stop his momentum and quickly punched the orc's throat. 

Eyes rolling backward, the orc grabbed his throat as his eyes rolled backwards. As Huhe was about to move to decapitate the orc, the orc behind it pulled his longbow and shoot at Huhe. Their distance only fifteen meters apart, in less than a second, before Huhe could even react, the arrow had already crossed fourteen meters and was about to reach Huhe's head. 

But at the right moment, a downward hack cut off the arrow right on the middle of its body. Grinning widely to Huhe, Lyk appeared on his left side as he said, "In need for help, eh?" 

Another arrow whizzed in the air as Lyk swiftly moved the blade of his sword right in front of his face. A clink sounded as the tip of the arrowhead clashed with the sword's blade. Scowling, Lyk turned his gaze to where this arrow was shot and saw that another orc noticed their presence. As both of them were about to take a stance and dash towards the orcs, a barrage of bullets appeared behind two orcs and made them into a beehive. 

From the air, XB11 flew down and landed in front of them. Surprised, Huhe quickly asked, "You are here? What happened to the holder?" 

Zuyuan raised his hand and threw a stone at Huhe. Raising his eyebrows, Huhe swiftly grabbed the stone in the air and moved his gaze to see what Zuyuan had thrown at him. Soon, his eyes widened as he saw what's on his hand, "The black crystal…" 

In his palm, a crystal that was as dark as ink, with the inside filled with spirals of thin white lights, rotating and swirling in each second. This time, it was Zuyuan's turn to be surprised as he raised his eyebrows with interest, "Oh, so that's a black crystal? I found it in the grip of that orc holder. Guessed you might know and its appearance does look intriguing, so I took it." 

Raising his head, Huhe asked, "Why you give it to me?" 

Shrugging his shoulders, Zuyuan stated, "I don't need it. It was useless for me. I can't do any magic and the energy inside that stone was very different with the kind of energy I'm cultivating right now." 

'And besides, last time in the trial world, the administrator took my sword and everyone stuff in that white space. Even though they said it only happened for the trial world, I don't want to bring anything that was useless for me but worth something for them and they would take it away later.' thought Zuyuan silently as he sighed. 

Frowning, Huhe contemplated for a while as silence descended in the area for a few seconds. After he had decided, he nodded his head at Zuyuan and said, "Thank you. I would try to repay it somehow to you with something of equal value." 

Smiling, Zuyuan nodded back and replied, "It's a deal then." 

Shortly, Zuyuan turned his body and walked to the river as XB11 followed behind him. Huhe put the black crystal inside his satchel as he followed as well as Lyk. Patting Huhe's back strongly, Lyk laughed, "Ha! Ya got something pretty aren't cha, Huhe? Tis call for a feast!" 

Rolling his eyes, Huhe proceeded to Zuyuan as he ignored Lyk. Walking right beside Zuyuan, Huhe said, "We need a boat. We should make some makeshift canoe from the trees around here and-" 

Climbing to XB11's back, Zuyuan tightly grabbed XB11's shoulder as XB11 activated its jet thrusters. Soon, it started to float in the air as Zuyuan interrupted, "If your best bet was a boat then we don't need one." 

Smiling, Zuyuan continued, "Grab hold of XB11's hand. Both of you. I don't have much time left and perhaps, we could go to the chief's place this way."